Shaft for golf clubs



A. E. LARD.

SHAFT FOR GOLF CLUBS.

'APFLICATION FILED IAN-11.1915.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALLAN EDWARD 'LARD, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

SHAFT FOB GOLF- CLUBS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Original application filedianuary 23, 1914, Serial No. 813,926. Divided and this application filed Iannar 11, 1915. Serial No. 1,643.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLAN E. LARD, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented'certain new and useful Improvements in Shafts for Golf-Clubs, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention pertains to an unproved shaft for golf-clubs, and the main object of the invention is "to produce a metallic shaft embodying all the desirable and requisite features of the wooden shaft, and eliminating the objectionable featuresnnherent thereto, namely, breaking, warping, becoming dead or set, and the care and attention necessary during and after exposure to rain.

A golf-club shaft must, as is well understood by those skilled in the use of golf clubs, have proper weight, and also proper balance; and the shaft must have the right whip to be effective, the whip being a matter of degree, varying with the taste and requirements of different players.

Satisfactory metallic golf-shafts have not, so far as I have been able to ascertain, as yet appeared, and the main difliculty has been the inability to secure the absolutely essential feature of torsion. An ordinary hollow steel golf-shaft has no torsioning qualities under impact, and such torsioning or twisting of the shaft is just as indispensable in a metallic shaft as it is in a wooden one.

The face of the head of a golf-club is offset or out of line with the shaft, and when the impact against the ball occurs the wooden shaft not only flexes backwardly, but also twists or torsions, and it is such torsioning that adds a propelling power which assists in lengthening the drive. Furthermore, this torsioning, cooperating with the turning of the wrists (it being a wellknown fact that the wrists must turn in every properly executed golf swing where distance is required), tends to give a long straight ball with a minimum effort. In short, a longer and straighter ball can be obtained with a live shaft that torsions than with one which does not.

Another important feature of the torsioning is that it tends to cushion the blow, the

result being a yielding, pleasant sensation rather than a sudden or jarring one. When the head of the club, traveling at a high rate of speed, impacts against the ball, the tendency is to turn the shaft in the hands, and it will be readily seen that the shaft is less liable to jar when this sudden, twisting effect is cushioned by the torsioning action of the shaft, such action traveling the length of the shaft and being, to a certain extent, more gradually and pliantly conveyed to the gripping hands. It is, therefore, quite apparent, and a well-known fact to those versed in the science of the game, that torsion is indispensable in a wooden golf-shaft, and it naturally follows that it is just as indispensable in a steel golf-shaft.

The present application is a division of my application Serial No. 813,926, filed on January 23, 1914, upon which Letters Patent No. 1,125,029 were issued to me under date of January 12, 1915, and is primarily directed to a club wherein the shaft embodies a central tubular member, having secured to the outer face thereof and extending longitudinally of the tube a plurality of strengthening ribs.

The invention is illustrated in the annexed drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a golf club embodying the invention; Fig. 2 an enlarged perspective view of the shaft, partly broken away; Fig. 3 a plan view of a blank employed to produce one of the longitudinallyextending ribs; Fig. 4 a plan view of one of said ribs, after it is formed; Fig. 5 a side elevation thereof, partly in section; Fig. 6 a sectional elevation of the central tube employed in the production of the shaft; Fig.

a perspective view, upon a somewhat enlarged scale, 'over that shown in Fig. 2, looking at the end of the shaft; Fig. 8 a perspective view of'a portion of one of the ribs; Fig. 9a perspective view of a modified arrangement of the ribs as applied to the central tube; Fig. 10 a plan View of the blank from which theribs shown in Fig. 9 may be produced; Fig. 11 a view similar to Fig. 7, showing ears on the ribs bearing directly upon the central tube instead of being overlapped; Fig. 12 a detail perspective of a still further modification; and Fig.

13 a perspective View of a shaft without the of spring steel, the same being relatively small and light. It is surrounded by a plurality of inverted U-shaped ribs, said members being indicated by 2. These ribs are formed from the blank shown in Fig. 3, and as will be noted upon reference to Figs. 2 and 5, they are of greater depth at the upper or grip end of the shaft than at the lower end; in other words, they taper in depth from the upper to the lower end of the shaft. Each rib is formed with a plurality of laterally-extending ears or lugs 3, which in the completed rib are slightly curved and overlap the lugs or ears upon the adjacent rib when the parts are assembled about the central tube and secured thereto, producing what may be termed an outer slotted tube. These lugs or cars may be welded to the central tube and the ribs have no immovable or solid connection therewith except through such ears, and thus as the outer slotted tube or ribs torsion the central tube torsions also under impact and is prevented from collapsing (which would otherwise occur owing to its lightness and size) by the exteriorly placed and longitudinally extending strengthening ribs. The object of the relatively light central tube is to provid a brace or support for the outer slotted tube or ribs, but its presence will not prevent the shaft from torsioning.

The ears or lugs of the various ribs, as will be readily appreciated, may lie side by side along the shaft, as in Fig. 11, or they may abut, or be otherwise arranged. It has been found that a shaft thus produced will have the necessary balance, will fallwithin the requirements of weight of the ordinary golfshaft, to wit, from six to six and threefourths ounces, and will likewise have the necessary whip and will torsion under impact. The outside diameter of the tube of the shaft which I have actually tested is' seven thirty-seconds and the thickness of Wall .014 of an inch. A tube made this light will of course, torsion, but it will not possess sulficient strength to withstand the impact of the blow, and will even bend and collapse at the finish of a practice swing.

In fact, when the head of the club is attached, the tube becomes too limber for any golf-club purpose. With the present structure, however, the advantages of the tube are retained and the tube sutficiently strengthened, without doing away with its susceptibility of being torsioned, to prevent collapse of the tube. Of course, the ribs or outer tube tend to reduce the torsion to a certain degree, and the torsion is affected by the diameter and thickness of both tubes. The number and width of the ears also affect the torsion. A shaft with many ears, located close together (or one ear extending and welded to the entire length of the shaft) will torsion less than if the ears are few and far apart. The ears may be omitted, and the edges of the ribs welded or attached in any other suitable manner to the tube. Such a construction is illustrated in Fig. 12.

In Fig. 9 I have shown a slightly modified construction, wherein the tube is designated by 1, and the ribs by 1*, which latter, instead of being made separately, are formed from a singlesheet of metal longitudinally corrugated and bent to shape and having overlapping ears, as 10 and 11, which are welded to the tube. Such a blank is shown in Fig. 10, and consists of a series of longitudinally-exten'ding members connected by cross-bars or ears 12, and having outwardlyextending ears 10 and 11 along the sides of the blank. Said blank will be subjected to the action of suitable dies, whereby the longitudinal inverted U-shaped members or ribs 1 will be formed, which are connected, as noted, by the ears or cross-bars 12. These inverted U-shaped members may be of greater depth at the handle or grip end than at the lower end of the shaft. The eras, in stead of overlapping, may be placed in any other suitable relation to each other, as

above indicated in connection with Fig. 11.

In Fig. 13 I have disclosed a shaft made from a ribbed blank without the central supporting tube. To thus form the shaft the ribbed blank is bent to the form shown in said figure, and the marginal ears are overlapped and welded. With this con-- in several ways, as by rolling between forming-dies, cutting out the openings between the connecting ears or members at the time of their formation or thereafter, or producing a blank from which the ribs may be pressed out.

A shaft made in accordance with any of these constructions may be readily assembled and all the ribs secured in place without difliculty, through the employment of electric spot welding, or any other approved method. Such a shaft will also torsion and has the whip and spring necessary to a successful golf-club shaft.

The whip under any of the constructions hereinbefore set forth, may be located or accentuated at any desired point in the length of the shaft by variation in the height or size of the ribs. Thus, the whip may be localized down near the head, up near the grip, or in the middle of the shaft.

It is to be understood that in all the constructions herein set forth a greater or 1683 number of ribs may be employed. In practice I have used four, that number keeping the shaft within the required weight, and

giving all the desirable features before alluded to. The shaft may be treatedor. enameled to prevent rust, and where it is made of high-grade steel and properly tempered, its life is almost limitless.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a golf-shaft formed from metal sufficiently light to torsion and having fl-shaped ribs extending longitudinally thereof.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a golf-shaft formed from metal sufiiciently light to admit of torsion and having flshaped ribs extending longitudinally thereof, said ribs tapering toward the lower end of the shaft.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a golf-shaft comprising a tempered and relatively light steel tube having secured to its outer face, and extending longitudinally thereof, a plurality of hollow strengthening ribs.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a golf-shaft comprising a tempered steel tube the body whereof is relatively light, having secured to its outer face and extending longitudinally thereof a plurality of strengthening ribs.

5. As anew article of manufacture, a golf-shaft consisting of a central tubular member formed from relatively light metal, with a sheet of metal bent into the form of a plurality of ribs extending longitudinally of said member and connected to one another, by a plurality of ears, at spaced intervals throughout the length of the tube, said ears being connected to the tubular member.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a golf-shaft comprising a central tubular member formed from light material, with a sheet of metal bent into the form of a plurality of tapered rib-shaped members extending longitudinally of the tubular member, said rib-shaped members being connected" at spaced intervals throughout their length by ears, said ears likewise being connected to the tubular member.

7. As a new article of manufacture, a metallic golf-shaft formed from relatively light material and having hollow ribs ex-' tending longitudinally thereof.

8. As a new article of manufacture, a metallic golf-shaft formed from relatively light material and having tapering hollow ribs extending longitudinally thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification inflre presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALLAN EDWARD LARD.

Witnesses:

Homes A. Donor, JAMES M. SPEAK. 

